Clinical ultrasonography in the decision-making process in medicine point-of-care ultrasound in clinical decision making

Abstract

Clinical ultrasonography has undergone significant development in recent years due to its considerable usefulness and equipment miniaturisation, which have enabled its use at the point of care. Clinical ultrasonography is a tool that supplements the classical anamnesis and physical examination, thereby increasing the practitioner's diagnostic power. This tool can be employed in numerous clinical scenarios and can be applied at all steps when making decisions about the patient. In the hands of the general practitioner, ultrasonography of the various areas of the body (multiorgan ultrasonography) optimises not only the diagnostic capacity but also the prognostic stratification and monitoring of progress after treatment has been applied. As with the systematic nature of conventional physical examinations, we need to establish an ultrasound examination protocol that supplements the physical examination, thereby redefining and boosting the classic examination.

Keywords: Clinical ultrasonography; Diagnóstico diferencial; Differential diagnosis; Echocardiography; Ecocardioscopia; Ecografía clínica; Prognosis; Pronóstico.